俄羅斯空襲烏克蘭鋼鐵廠致7人死亡，基輔稱莫斯科使用了北韓飛彈

Recently Reuters reported the following:

Russian strike kills seven at Ukraine steel plant, Kyiv says Moscow used North Korean missiles

By Reuters - Reporting by Ron Popeski and Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Timothy Heritage

August 10, 20263:10 PM PDT Updated 6 hours ago

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Seven workers were killed at a Ukrainian steel plant on Tuesday during a Russian attack on the southeastern ‌city of Zaporizhzhia in which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow used North Korean ballistic missiles.

The Zaporizhstal plant was forced to suspend production after being hit as Russia pummelled Zaporizhzhia with Zircon hypersonic missiles, guided aerial bombs and ballistic missiles supplied by Pyongyang.

"The ballistic missile strike hit as employees were making their ​way to a shelter immediately after the air-raid alert was sounded," parent company Metinvest Group said in a statement ​that put the death toll at seven.

The attack brought production at the plant to a complete halt, ⁠and other damaged sites were operating at reduced capacity, the company said.

Regional governor Ivan Fedorov posted photos of buildings and vehicles ablaze ​after the strike, which also damaged four residential buildings. At least 24 people were injured. No damage was reported at the Zaporizhzhia ​nuclear power plant.

Russia's defence ministry said Russian forces had struck a metallurgical plant in Zaporizhzhia that produces flat-rolled steel which it said was used by the Ukrainian military.

The ministry also said Russian forces had struck the Nova Poshta sorting complex in Kyiv, which it described as used to distribute dual-use goods, ​including components for drones and electronic warfare equipment.

The attacks followed a Ukrainian drone strike that Russian authorities said on Monday had killed ​at least 13 people and wounded 39 in Nizhnekamsk, one of the heaviest civilian tolls in Russia in months. Ukraine said it had hit the ‌city's TANECO ⁠oil refinery.

Another Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and injured two overnight in Russia's Voronezh region, and caused fires at warehouse facilities, the regional governor said. Russian online retailer Wildberries, whose warehouses have frequently been targeted by Ukraine, said it had evacuated its logistics facilities in the Voronezh region for safety reasons.

Six people were also killed overnight in the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, Ukrainian officials said earlier ​on Tuesday.

INCREASED ATTACKS

Russia, which began its ​full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February ⁠2022, has increased ballistic missile attacks in recent months, trying to exploit Ukraine's shortage of high-end air defences.

Moscow did not immediately say whether it had used North Korean missiles in the attack on ​Zaporizhzhia. There was no comment from Pyongyang.

A Ukrainian military intelligence official said last week that a North ​Korean missile unit ⁠had begun deploying to western Russia and could be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for strikes on Ukraine.

Russia has fired scores of North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine since late 2023, but the deployment of North Korean missile forces would be an expansion of ⁠the already ​extensive military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Zelenskiy said on Saturday that "a decision has ​been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia" to fight for Moscow.

Zelenskiy called on allies to respond without hesitation, saying "all ​of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation."

Translation

俄羅斯空襲烏克蘭鋼鐵廠致7人死亡，基輔稱莫斯科使用了北韓飛彈

8月11日（路透社）— 在週二，俄羅斯空襲烏克蘭東南部城市扎波羅熱，造成烏克蘭鋼鐵廠7名工人死亡。烏克蘭總統澤連斯基稱，莫斯科使用了北韓提供的彈道飛彈。

俄羅斯使用「鋯石」高超音速飛彈、導引航空炸彈和北韓提供的彈道飛彈猛烈轟炸札波羅熱，導致札波羅熱鋼鐵廠被迫停產。

母公司Metinvest集團表示死亡人數為7人，聲明稱：「彈道飛彈攻擊發生時，員工們正在空襲警報響起後立即前往防空洞」。

襲擊導致該工廠生產完全停止，該公司表示，其他受損廠房也只能以較低的產能運作。

地區州長Ivan Fedorov在社交媒體上發佈了襲擊後建築物和車輛燃燒的照片，襲擊還導致四棟居民樓受損。至少24人受傷。扎波羅熱核電廠未報告任何損失。

俄羅斯國防部稱，俄軍襲擊了位於扎波羅熱的一家冶金廠，該廠生產扁軋鋼材，據稱烏克蘭軍方使用了這些鋼材。

國防部還表示，俄軍襲擊了位於基輔的「新郵政」分類中心，該中心用於分發包括無人機零件和電子戰設備在內的兩用物項。

此前，烏克蘭無人機襲擊了Nizhnekamsk，造成至少13人死亡、39人受傷。俄羅斯當局週一表示，這是俄羅斯數月來平民傷亡最慘重的事件之一。烏克蘭方面稱，他們襲擊了該市的TANECO煉油廠。

俄羅斯Voronezh州長表示，另一單烏克蘭無人機攻擊事件發生在昨夜，造成一人死亡、兩人受傷，並引發倉庫設施起火。俄羅斯線上零售商Wildberries表示，出於安全考慮，已疏散了其在Voronezh州的物流設施。 Wildberries的倉庫經常成為烏克蘭的攻擊目標。

烏克蘭官員週二稍早表示，烏克蘭Dnipropetrovsk州和Donetsk州也發生了襲擊事件，造成六人死亡。

襲擊事件增多

俄羅斯在2022年2月開始全面入侵烏克蘭，近幾個月來，俄羅斯加強了彈道飛彈攻擊力度，試圖利用烏克蘭高端防空武器短缺的弱點。

莫斯科方面尚未就襲擊札波羅熱是否使用了北韓飛彈作出回應。平壤方面也未對此發表評論。

上週，一名烏克蘭軍事情報官員表示，一支北韓飛彈部隊已開始向俄羅斯西部部署，可能配備120枚彈道飛彈和6套發射裝置，用於打擊烏克蘭。

自2023年底以來，俄羅斯已向烏克蘭發射了數十枚北韓彈道飛彈，但北韓飛彈部隊的部署將進一步擴大莫斯科和平壤之間本已十分廣泛的軍事合作。

澤連斯基週六表示，一個“向俄羅斯境內部署3萬至5萬名朝鮮士兵”，為莫斯科作戰的決定已被作實了。

澤連斯基呼籲盟友毫不猶豫地做出回應，並表示「所有這一切都表明，莫斯科準備的不是和平，而是局勢升級」。

So, Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February ⁠2022, has increased ballistic missile attacks in recent months, exploiting Ukraine's shortage of high-end air defenses. Zelenskiy says that North Korea will send 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine. Apparently, Moscow needs more outside assistance in the war with Ukraine.